# Can we play another round of "What the hell were Mom and Dad thinking when they named the kid?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572 "2014-03-01T02:19:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/101 "2014-03-03T13:12:45Z")
As mentioned by a few people above, Azriel is a very normal Hebrew/Jewish name, and in Jewish lore, is not the angel of death, but the angel in charge of collecting prayers when they reach heaven. Adonis is certainly unusal, but not in the “WTF” category. At least it means his parents consider him, or hope him to grow up, exceptionally handsome. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/102 "2014-03-03T13:14:15Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > If Hispanic, most likely short for María Elena, could also be a Magdalena. Why unfortunate? I’m missing the reference. Melaena (or Melena in the US) is tarry stool (faeces which is black because it contains old blood). Malena and melaena are pronounced the same way. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/103 "2014-03-03T13:26:00Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > [Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii in New Zealand](http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/24/familyandrelationships.newzealand), got famous, that didn’t work out well either. From your link: > [@](#): > > In his written ruling, he said names such as Stallion, Yeah Detroit, Fish and Chips, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit were prohibited by registration officials. “Sex Fruit”? Seriously? Someone tried to name their child “Sex Fruit”? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/104 "2014-03-03T13:32:46Z")
“Yeah Detroit” is funny because it doesn’t even sound very enthusiastic. These people are mildly in favor of Detroit. “Stallion”, although a ridiculous name, doesn’t seem bad enough that it should have been prohibited. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/105 "2014-03-03T15:07:56Z")
For years, my wiseass suggestion to friends who were expecting a boy, and then my own joking claim when my wife was pregnant, was Hiram. It was just such a ridiculously old-fashioned sounding name (as in, circa 1830) as to be laughable. In this thread, of course, we know where this is going. Last year, while on the daycare playground after picking my 3-year-old, I heard a mother calling to her son. “Hiram! Hiram, stop that!” etc. I about strained a muscle in my neck stopping myself from the double-take I started to do. Even better, I later saw the child’s name on a roster of kids at the daycare. I was wrong about the spelling. Apparently it’s “Hyrum.” Talk about a name that fails the “throes of passion” test. “Ohhh, that feels soooo good! Ohhhh, Hyrum!” Makes me cringe just thinking about it. Of course, it may be a self-correcting problem, as there’s a good chance that a young man named Hyrum will never get to be intimate with a lady. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/106 "2014-03-03T15:22:30Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > We enjoy giving our kids middle names that are actually audio/electrical measurement units. Our daughter’s middle name is Bel. If we have a son, his middle name will be Henry. My son’s middle name is Gal, which is Hebrew for “wave” (it’s a common name). Can he be their friend? > [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > The boys (the first two) have middle names that are common enough among Orthodox Jews, but my daughter’s middle name is uncommon even in that group – Machla (with the “ch” pronounced as in the German “ach.”) > > Zev Steinhardt That better be spelled with a “כ”. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/107 "2014-03-03T16:38:20Z")
Ugh, this is always an interesting topic to me. I worked my way through college in a medical records department at a hospital. We’d see some really crazy names. The hospital was in downtown Tulsa; which makes me wonder if correlation is causation in this case. IOW I would like to see if there is a correlation to babies names that are uncommon and income or race. From when my kids were little my son played on a soccer team with a kid who was named Sunny. Yep that’s the right spelling, and he had two younger sisters named Stormy and Rainy. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/108 "2014-03-03T17:05:00Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > From when my kids were little my son played on a soccer team with a kid who was named Sunny. Yep that’s the right spelling, and he had two younger sisters named Stormy and Rainy. I knew siblings with the last name Ray. The boy’s middle name was Sun and the girl’s middle name was Moon. I kind of like that. They had normal first names so it was nothing that would ever sound unprofessional or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/109 "2014-03-03T17:13:44Z")
My second option for my son’s name was Julian. I thought it was cool, and it came directly from a place of love: Deep Space 9. However my third choice was Mordred. That didn’t fly. Neither did Kinthalis, EVEN when I offered to change my name to Kinthalis so he’d be Kinthalis Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/110 "2014-03-03T17:22:40Z")
I think they should bring back ancient Mayan/Aztec names. They were cool. Would love to see a teacher try and pronounce them on their first day of school 😉 Huitzilopochtli Quetzalcoatl ---
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/111 "2014-03-03T18:32:35Z")
Draco. Yes, that’s right. Draco. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/112 "2014-03-03T18:36:59Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > My son’s middle name is Gal, which is Hebrew for “wave” (it’s a common name). Can he be their friend? I’ve no objection in principle, but it’s a helluva commute for a play-date. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/113 "2014-03-03T19:25:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That better be spelled with a “כ”. Well, to be fair, the only “official” spelling is in English, where it’s spelled with a “ch” However, the Biblical personage is spelled with a ches, not a chof. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/114 "2014-03-03T20:26:57Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Maybe the parents really liked U2? 🙂 > > They misspelled “R’lyeh”. _Iä iä Cthulhu fh’tagn!_ I will never think of her without equating her to a dead underwater city now. And I thank you for that. > [@](#): > > Star-ee-oh-anna? How do you even say that? Evidently, just like “Stariana” would be pronounced. My friend (who is awesome) had to write a note about the kid to the principal, and just refused on general principles to include the “o.” ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/115 "2014-03-03T20:51:49Z")
I saw another good one on a mom message board … Tenesea (pronounced like Tennessee). WTF? ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/116 "2014-03-03T21:14:35Z")
Assuming we’re allowed to have a historical version of this game, it gives me the opportunity to share the all-time greatest name I’ve encountered personally in real life. This is one of those that falls into the category of “Your last name is bad enough…now you want to make things even worse for your kid?” In junior high school I took music lessons from a guy whose name was… Loyal Mould ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/117 "2014-03-03T21:50:55Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Lots of Darths, lots of Lukes, but the ones who always confused me were the kids named Chance. A relative recently named their child Leah…nice enough, especially since it’s an older name used on that side of the family. The child’s middle name is Skye. Okay… now guess what the child’s last name is. :smack: Hopefully the kid will get more “wow, cool!” comments than teasing. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/118 "2014-03-03T21:58:20Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > I saw another good one on a mom message board … Tenesea (pronounced like Tennessee). WTF? I like some place names but some people seem to think all place names can make good names for people. The kid of a friend of mine in Utah had a classmate named Seattle. And, I’m REALLY not one of those people who thinks it’s horrible if a name could ever conceivably be mispronounced (my name is very rarely pronounced correctly by English-speakers and I’m cool with it), but no one is EVER going to pronounce Tenesea like Tennessee on the first try. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/119 "2014-03-03T21:59:52Z")
I have a Thywillbedone from an eccentric part of the country (India) which has also produced Memorabilia , morningstar and Adolf Hitler ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572/120 "2014-03-03T22:09:10Z")
Saintly Loser: > [@](#): > > Many, many years ago, when I was still in grammar school, the nun who taught my seventh-grade class was Sister Barbara Ann. > > Poor woman couldn’t walk into a classroom without the whole class bursting into song. > > She was nice, though. I still remember her fondly. Did she frequently need help from Sister Rhonda? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-play-another-round-of-what-the-hell-were-mom-and-dad-thinking-when-they-named-the-kid/682572.md?page=7)